Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment has pulled some pretty dirty tricks in the past. They have never gone out of their way to avoid being displayed in bad taste. Past pro wrestling storylines have revolved around such weighty topics as racism, miscarriages, necrophilia and octogenarian sexual escapades. It was not out of the ordinary to see former WWE Champion, C.M. Punk, using an urn as a prop in his feud with The Undertaker.

The buzz around this particular stunt was that, according to the storyline, the urn that Punk was using as a weapon supposedly contained the remains of the Undertaker’s manager, Paul Bearer.

The reason that a lot of fans were taken aback was that the man who portrayed Bearer, William Moody, recently did indeed just pass away at 58 years old with a very real heart attack. C.M. Punk, one of the greatest WWE antagonists ever, juggled the urn backstage to taunt the Undertaker and later used the urn as a weapon in a confrontation.

Moody had spent over 40 years in the world of pro wrestling as a manager and performer. His family, specifically his son, pre-approved the use of the urn and Moody’s likeness in the stunt.

Michael Moody said that his dad would have loved the stunt, and would have been happy to have been part of the buildup to WrestleMania. C.M. Punk is facing The Undertaker in a grudge match at the annual WWE showcase on April 7th.

Michael tells TMZ, “We felt that dad would have wanted us at RAW last week and agreed to the angle … We knew Dad wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

On Tuesday, the WWE broke the news of Paul Bearer’s death, issuing this statement:

“WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of William Moody, aka Paul Bearer. Moody made his WWE debut in 1991 as the manager of The Undertaker and went on to become a memorable part of WWE over the course of the next 20 years.

“Our deepest condolences go out to Moody’s family, friends and fans.”

What do you think of the ‘Paul Bearer’ urn stunt? Did the WWE go too far this time?